life. His dissent protesting the State of Georgia invading the lands of the Cherokee Nation, in Cherokee Nation v. Georgia, 30 U.S. 1 (1831), is important to understanding the history of Native American rights. Chief Justice Marshall began the main opinion sympathetic to the Cherokee Nation's legal claim: But Chief Justice Marshall found that the Cherokee Nation was not a "foreign nation" and that the Supreme Court had no subject matter jurisdiction to even consider the merits of its petition to enjoin the State of Georgia from invading its territory to possess mining interests. Justice Thompson's dissent stated: Thompson presided over the Circuit Court trial in Connecticut in the Amistad case in 1839. He would also rule on the same case as a justice of the US Supreme Court in 1841. Justice Smith Thompson remained on the court until his death in Poughkeepsie, New York, on December 18, 1843. Legacy In May 1816, Smith Thompson was a founding vice president of the American Bible Society and provided a copy to every officer and enlisted man in the Navy while he was Secretary of the Navy. In May 1822, Lt. Commander Matthew C. Perry renamed Cayo Hueso (Key West) to Thompson's Island in honour of Smith Thompson. In 1919, the USS Smith Thompson (DD-212) was named in honor of him on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of Smith Thompson becoming the Secretary of the Navy. Marriages Smith Thompson married first, Sarah Livingston (1777-1833) daughter of Gilbert Livingston (1742-1806), a law partner of Thompson, and had four children. Second, he married Elizabeth Davenport Livingston (1805-1886), daughter of Henry Livingston Jr. (1748-1828), and had three more children. Gilbert and Henry were siblings, making his wives, Sarah and Elizabeth, first cousins. Sarah Livingston and her husband's Supreme Court predecessor, Henry Brockholst Livingston, were also cousins via their common Livingston family ancestors, Robert Livingston, the Elder (1654-1728) and Alida (née Schuyler) Van Rensselaer (1656–1727) who lived in eastern New York during the 18th century. One of his sons, Gilbert Livingston Thompson (1796-1874), married Arietta Minthorne Tompkins (1800-1837), daughter of Vice President Daniel D. Tompkins. Their daughter, Arietta Livingston Thompson (1823-1886), was the mother of Guy Vernor Henry and grandmother of Guy Vernor Henry Jr. See also List of justices of the Supreme Court of the United States List of United States Supreme Court justices by time in office United States Supreme Court cases during